Caught In the Web
by Optimistically-Hopeless
Summary: Alfred wakes up in a place that he doesn't recognize with someone who is half human, half his worst fear. Will he be able to survive the encounter? Spider!Arthur x Alfred. Inspired by Shieunni on Tumblr.


I know I should be working on my other stories, but... meh. XD Anyways, spider!Arthur is an idea from Shieunni on Tumblr, and I got permission from her to write with this idea. So I'm really hoping that she approves! XD But I decided to share this on here too since I feel I get more publicity on here. XD

So, this little story is how my brain interpreted these two meeting. Spider!Arthur belongs to Shieunni, and the characters belong to Himaruya. I'd love to know how people think of the story and writing, but just keep in mind that not the whole story is my idea-tons of credit goes to Shieunni. :)

If you want to see where Spider!Arthur came from, go here: [ shieunni . tumblr .c om[/]tagged/spiders ]

Anyways, please review! I'd really appreciate it! :)

x-x-x-x-x

Alfred didn't remember going to sleep. He didn't remember lying down in his bed last night. He didn't remember getting home from his trek in the forest he'd been told to never go into. Everything was blurry as he felt himself slowly regaining consciousness, his senses gradually taking account of what was around him in the immediate area. His body was stiff, his limbs spread-eagled around him with his hands placed above his head. He could feel the cold floor to his back, but he felt himself wrapped in what must have been a blanket of some sort, keeping him slightly warm. It was silent around him, a few songbirds to be heard, their sound far away as if he was in a hollow of some sort. Slowly, Alfred opened his eyes, attempting to investigate further.

What he saw confused him.

He was surrounded by white, pearlescent thread. It was intricately woven in beautiful patterns above and around him, encasing him in a sparkling prison. He could vaguely see through the threads to the ceiling above him, dark, dull rock being all that was visible. He had to be in a cave of some sort then. He had no idea how he had gotten here or who would bring him to such a place, but he was very much ready to be out. Blinking a few times to clear his vision, he pulled his arms in towards his body.

However, his arms refused to move from where they were placed. Alfred looked up towards his arms, trying to see why they wouldn't move. His heart leapt into his throat when he saw that his arms were wrapped up in the pearly threads, bound in their current position. He tried kicking his legs, but felt the same result there. It wasn't a blanket he had felt himself in—it was the threads that were wrapped around him. Feeling sick, a small whimper crawled from his throat.

He was trapped.

"No," he whispered to himself, tugging harder with his limbs. "No, c'mon, no!" Giving a whine that was louder than he had intended, he thrashed his arms and legs, trying to free himself, trying to find any way to escape. These were just small threads—they couldn't be that hard to break. There had to be a way to get out—there just had to be!

However, all movement stopped when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. The movement had been slight, but his mind had trained itself to recognize the very slight motion. Slowly, he turned his head, his lungs burning as he forced himself to stop breathing.

Only inches away from his face was a spider. It wasn't too big, maybe only half an inch in diameter. But it was staring directly at Alfred, not moving closer or farther away from him. Even though Alfred played football back in high school, even though he was stronger than most people, even though he liked to be the hero and protect people from horrible dangers, he had one weakness.

Alfred was utterly horrified of spiders.

The spider moved slightly, the miniscule movement making Alfred jump as he tried to get away from it. His throat was closed off in silent terror, but on the inside he was screaming. He was unable to move from the spot he was wrapped in, had no idea where he was, and his worst fear was inches away from his face. He tried to desperately move away from it, but his jumpy movements were only making the threads around him bounce. Because of this, the spider kept on moving, getting irritated by the constant swinging. A short scream ripped from Alfred's throat as the spider inched closer to him, now having to go cross-eyed to see it. He was close to bursting into tears, feeling so helpless and unable to even block his face. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to leave mentally, trying to just find a place in his mind where there were no spiders, where he was free, where he could run away and never have to face something like this ever again.

"Tch."

The sound came from the outside of his pearlescent cage, the sound lightly muffled by the soft threads. An unearthly scuttling sound was heard coming closer to him, causing Alfred to only clench his eyes shut tighter, not wanting to see what was getting ever closer to him. The sound arrived to his side, silencing for a moment as if he was being observed. He then felt the threads move below him as if they were being pushed to the side. "What the bloody hell is going on in here?"

Alfred was half-tempted to open his eyes; the voice was a man's that sounded distinctly British and oddly grumpy as if they had been disturbed by Alfred's tirade of fear. But he simply kept his eyes closed, not wanting to see the spider that he knew for certain still had to be there.

However, the owner of the voice seemed to see the same thing as Alfred had. "Oh, another one of you little buggers!" Quickly, Alfred felt the threads next to his face being plucked, and cautiously opened his eyes to see that they were now spider free. "Bloody freeloaders. I take hours to make this web, and they just live in it like it's theirs."

Finally, Alfred could breathe correctly now that the spider was gone. He almost wanted to laugh out of relief. But as the words went through his head, he became even more confused. _"I take hours to make this web…"_ Hoping that he had heard wrong, or just misunderstood what he was saying, Alfred ever so slowly turned his head to peer at whoever was speaking.

As he turned his head, he first saw a man's face. His head was topped with unruly blond hair that stuck out at odd angles, looking almost like he had never brushed it before. His eyes were an unnatural green, nearly acidic, giving him the feeling as if they looked at him for too long, Alfred would melt. Those green eyes were topped by just as unnatural looking eyebrows that were so thick, Alfred thought for a second that they couldn't be real. A scowl was placed on his lips, his eyes looking down at his hand where the aforementioned spider was pinched between his nimble fingers. All over his neck, shoulders and arms were silver tattoos, delicate swirls and patterns that sparkled in the pale light. He wore no shirt, his skin pale and creamy, no blemishes or scars to be seen. Alfred would have never been able to stop looking at this man before him; he was too beautiful, it was nearly impossible to look away.

However, Alfred could not stop his eyes from going down. His heart stuttered, his eyes went wide, and he couldn't breathe.

Where two legs should have been, in their place was a huge, dark spider abdomen with four pairs of long, spindly, black-and-orange striped legs protruding from it.

Like with all spiders, Alfred jumped at the slightest bit of movement. His eyes shot up as the thing before him raised its arm and brought the spider to its mouth. Alfred nearly vomited when he heard the quiet crunch of it being chewed in the others' mouth. "Quite unfortunate," the creature mused as he slowly chewed, another crunch being heard here and there. "I don't like killing other spiders. But if they're going to get in my way, I'm afraid I have no other choice." Seeming to think he had chewed enough, he swallowed at what must have been an exaggerated volume, now focusing his attention on Alfred. "It's nice to see you're awake, pet," it cooed softly, reaching out its hand towards his face. "Now. What to do with you."

"NO!" Alfred shrieked, pulling his head back as much as he could. He wildly flailed his limbs, trying to get free from the web. "No, don't touch me! Please, don't kill me!"

His outburst seemed to surprise the half-spider, its green eyes widening slightly. It gave a small chuckle, showing perfectly white teeth—and deadly sharp fangs. "Don't fret, poppet," it said, lowering itself closer to his face. "I won't hurt you." It smiled as it brought the hand to Alfred's cheek and lightly brushed it.

But even with the reassurances, it didn't calm Alfred one bit. All he could focus on was the clicking sounds the creature's legs made when it moved, the way its tattoos glistened eerily, how too soft and silky its fingers felt against his own skin. It wasn't natural. It wasn't _human._

All this creature was, was just another spider trying to kill him.

"Stop!" Alfred screamed once again, turning his head away from its touch. "Stop, just let me go! Please!" Alfred gasped and gave a whimper when he realized that the tears from earlier had now fallen from his eyes. Dammit, he must look so weak right now. So weak, so defenseless; so _edible_. "P-please," he sobbed, clenching his fists helplessly as his attempts began to weaken. If the threads hadn't broken by now, he was beginning to doubt that they ever would. "I just want to go home."

The creature eyed him warily, its acidic eyes peering into his own sky blue ones. "Why are you so afraid?" it asked, starting to sound irritated with his screaming and crying. "You know, if I had wanted to kill you, I would have done so already. You'd be just like another bat or possum, or even the occasional deer. I'd put you in my web, bite you in all the vital blood paths, wait until you're unconscious or nearly dead, suck you dry of blood, and snack on your flesh for a while until I get bored of your flavor. Or, if I'm in the mood, I could use some of my venom to liquefy your organs and have myself a nice drink." It smiled down at Alfred's increasingly paling face, trailing its fingers down his cheek once again. "Believe me, pet. If I had wanted you dead, you wouldn't have woken up."

Alfred tasted bile at the back of his throat, his stomach churning. He wanted to run, wanted to get out of here, wanted to stop being touched by this monster. But while his limbs were trapped like they were, there was no escaping. "Then what do you want?" he asked in a choked whisper. He drew in a shuddering breath, unable to move his eyes away from the acidic green ones before him. "What do you _want_?"

The creature paused as it stared down at him curiously, a small smirk playing across its lips. "Company," it answered simply, Alfred shivering as a thumb trailed under his bottom lip. "Perhaps a tad bit of entertainment. All I've ever had in this cave are pests to trap, and other spiders to fear me and use my web as their own hunting grounds. I've never had anything on my same level of intelligence to speak to before." It smiled again as it trailed its fingers through Alfred's caramel locks, Alfred desperately trying shift away from the touch. "And I never thought that I'd ever get something as pretty as you stuck in my web."

Alfred whined at the touch, closing his eyes as he once again tried to imagine himself in a happier place. "For how long?" he asked in a detached voice, his own question sounding very far away from him.

The creature's hand slowed in his hair, lightly brushing through the tangled strands. "Until I grow bored of you, I suppose," it answered honestly, sending chills down Alfred's spine. "I've never been able to play with something like you before, and I think you'll be a lot of fun. And then once you've served your purpose, I'll probably enjoy you as a snack afterwards." A smirk spread on his face, his fangs sparkling dangerously, his acidic eyes almost seeming to glow in the low light. "You do look rather delicious."

Alfred just stared, unable to move, barely able to breathe. "Please," he choked, turning his head away from the half-spider as tears continue to roll down his face. "D-don't… I, I'm really scared, okay? Just…" His voice trailed off, and he gasped with another sob, his whole body shaking.

"Shh," the half-spider cooed, brushing Alfred's hair back, revealing his forehead as he placed light kisses on his temple and brow with its silky soft lips. "Calm down, my lovely. I won't hurt you. Until the day that you no longer mean anything to me, you are safe as long as you stay by my side."

Tears were still in Alfred's eyes, but now he had used too much of his energy to let them fall. "Why?" he murmured, his muscles going lax as he finally gave in. "Why me?"

Again, the creature paused as it stared at him, as if thinking over the question. Then, a sly smile crept across his lips. "Because you're the only human who's been daft enough to get caught in my web."

The words echoed in his head for a few moments, Alfred barely wanting to believe them. As they finally sunk in, he nearly slammed the back of his head against the floor below him. He was beginning to desperately wish that he had listened when Kiku had told him not to go adventuring in the woods.

The creature softly trailed its fingers down his cheek and down to the side of his neck. "Seeing as you're going to be here for the rest of your life," it hummed, the smile remaining on its lips, "you may call me Arthur." It rubbed a thumb against his jaw, its eyes softening slightly. "What may I call you?"

Alfred stared up at it—Arthur—not really seeing its face. Taking in a breath, trying to accept his now decided fate, he slowly released that breath in a sigh. "Alfred," he answered softly, almost not able to hear his own voice. "My name's Alfred."

Arthur smiled at this, finally beginning to back away from him slowly. "Alfred. Such a nice name for such a pretty human." As he retreated from the glistening cave, he fixed the threads back to the way they had been before he had come in and changed the boy's life forever. "Rest for a while, love. I'll be back to check on you later today to see how you're faring."

Alfred just hummed in acknowledgement as he stared up at the ceiling, unable to form words any longer. He listened as Arthur scuttled away, but everything else had faded from him. He was trapped here with his own worst fear; trapped here with a thing that was half spider, to never see his family or friends again. He closed his eyes as tears of a different variety slipped from his eyes.

Fear was no longer a part of it.

He had just lost everything.

x-x-x-x-x

I hope you guys liked it! :D Just thinking a little out loud, but I'd love to write more stuff like this. However, since it isn't my idea, I don't want to overstep my boundaries. If I get the opportunity to add to this, I will. But for now, this is it.

But thank you for reading! Please review! :)

**Edit:** Great news! I heard back, and I got the okay to continue writing! So you can definitely expect more for this story! Thanks so much for the support, everyone! ;w;


End file.
